Solving the Wellness Paradox in 2025 & Beyond

I'm your host , michael Stack , an exercise physiologist by training and a health educator and health entrepreneur by trade , and I'm fascinated by a phenomenon I call the wellness paradox . This paradox , as I view it , is the trust , interaction and communication gap that exists between exercise professionals and our medical community .

This podcast is all about closing off that gap by disseminating the latest , most evidence-based and most engaging information in the health sciences . And to do that , in episode 138 , we're brought to our year-end wrap-up episode for 2024 .

And this has been quite a year and in this episode I want to talk a little bit of what I've learned this year and I've done this in previous years as we've gotten to the end of the year , just kind of taking and encapsulating the learnings from the past 12 months .

But I also want to look ahead to 2025 to talk a little bit about how the podcast and the topics we cover are going to evolve .

And the topics we cover are going to evolve and I guess from a starting perspective , I want to really zoom out and think of things on more of a global level and I'll go back to the beginning of our middle of 2021 , when we started this podcast some almost 140 episodes ago , with so many of our great guests that have taught us so many things , and when I

started this journey I really thought the answer to solving the wellness paradox and integrating exercise professionals in healthcare on a day-by-day basis .

I thought that was more of a micro level type of an intervention , meaning we needed to focus on just doing things with the exercise professional themselves upskilling them , making them better , giving them tools and tricks and tactics through this podcast to really drive a change that I felt is so essential for our healthcare .

But since then I've really had my eyes opened up greatly and I talked about this on our three-year anniversary episode previously that we'll link up in the show notes page .

I really had my eyes open to the importance of systemic change and policy change in this professionalization effort that we're undergoing in our hopes of transforming healthcare through movement in this country , and this has really led me down quite an interesting path to realize unless the environmental conditions are created for exercise professionals to thrive in the

healthcare delivery system . No amount of work with individual exercise professionals will ever amount in the systemic change that we need to truly transform healthcare delivery in this country through movement , and that has really brought me on a very winding path these past several years to a lot of the work that I'm currently involved in right now .

And there are three things that I really want to touch on in this conversation as a way of looking back on the previous year , but also as a way of looking forward into the future , to talk about not only what I think will be important for us to be discussing on this podcast , but , I think , what will be absolutely essential to start to transform healthcare

delivery in this country into something that allows people to take back ownership of their health .

And the first thing I want to talk about , which is looking back on this year , is something we've just done recently , which is the podcast series with the American College of Sport Medicine on the themed issue of the Health Fitness Journal on Professionalization and Advocacy .

That podcast series , if you have not listened to it , I would strongly encourage all of you to go back and listen to it , because I think it lays out the playbook of all the important things that are necessary on our professionalization effort as exercise professionals .

We talked about everything from academic programs and credentialing and accreditation , to reimbursement , to registry instead of licensure , to evidence-based outcome oriented program design .

We talked about all these critical legs to the stool of professionalization and I think , if nothing else , it is incumbent upon all of us that are looking to elevate our profession and to transform healthcare through movement in this country to be informed about what is happening , because we are at such an amazing inflection point as a profession where I really think

the systems , environment and the policy environment are starting to shift underneath us in a very , very positive direction , to really embed exercise professionals into healthcare as an essential stakeholder in that environment for getting people healthier . We all know that's a place that we deserve to be and that we should be . Now we're actually moving in that direction .

So certainly , listen to that series . And going into 2025 , one of the things we'll be looking to do as a podcast is highlight the updates to that series . And going into 2025 , one of the things we'll be looking to do as a podcast is highlight the updates to that professionalization effort .

I think one of the things I've learned is that so much of the great policy and systems change work that happens in any field or in any sector happens , in a lot of cases , behind the scenes .

Some of the things that happen are wonky behind the scenes , they're technical , they're not easy to explain , but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be trying to explain them and trying to make people more informed about what those changes will look like .

So in 2025 , as we move things forward on the professionalization effort , we're going to pick up from where we left off with that ACSM podcast series and we're going to iterate .

We're going to provide new information , new insights and really provide you the frontline exercise professional that's listening or the healthcare executive that's listening an inside track as to what's coming down the pike and , from a strategic perspective , I think this is so important . I don't believe in luck .

I believe that you can take advantage of opportunity when it presents itself if you are ready , and the only way you get ready is if you get informed and if you stay informed . So we're going to be committed to doing that in 2025 . Saying that I don't actually know what the changes will be . Policy and systems change sometimes move fast .

Sometimes it moves very slowly . As a result of that , we are going to be flexible as a podcast in 2025 , just as I think we need to be as an industry .

As a profession , we need to be flexible , to be ready to go in the direction that we need to to really push this professionalization effort across the finish line and to become essential stakeholders in healthcare . So please check out that podcast series if you haven't yet . With ACSM , all 12 episodes are well worth the listen .

Even more worth it to go back and to read the articles in that themed issue . We'll link up to the podcast series and we'll also link up to that themed issue on the show notes page so everybody has the opportunity to access it .

Now , the next things I want to talk about are definitely related to the professionalization effort and embedding exercise professionals more directly into health care , but they're even more expansive than what we covered in that themed issue , and this comes from some of the work I'm doing with two organizations , and I'm going to start a little bit more macro and then

zoom in a little bit more micro as a way to help you understand some other things that we're going to be talking about and some things that you need to be considering . I'm very honored that , starting in 2025 , I will be in the presidency role for the Physical Activity Alliance .

Now you've probably heard me talk about the Physical Activity Alliance before on the podcast . We've had Lori Witzel , who's the Senior Policy Advisor to the Physical Activity Alliance , on the podcast before , but I really want to take a second to help you understand the work of the Physical Activity Alliance .

The PAA is the nation's largest coalition dedicated to improving health and well-being through physical activity . The PAA uses its collective voice to lead efforts that create , support and advocate for the policy and systems changes necessary for people to enjoy active living .

Essentially , we are the organization that is working on the federal level with federal agencies and other partners around the country to ensure the environmental conditions are right for us to be more physically active as a nation , and we need this more than ever .

I'm sure many people who are listening know the statistics $117 billion per year attributable to physical inactivity . We're talking about maybe only 2 out of 10 Americans who are meeting the physical activity guidelines for muscle strengthening and aerobic exercise . Physical inactivity is an epidemic .

You've heard , sitting is the new smoking and if you look at the data , that is very true and , as I've said so many times , physical activity , movement on a minute by minute basis , is the most profound thing that you can do for your health . Think about it . You meet the guidelines for physical activity if you move for 150 minutes per week .

There's nothing else you can do for 150 minutes per week that will confer the kind of health benefit physical activity will confer . If you only sleep well for 150 minutes a week , if you only eat well for 150 minutes a week , you're going to have some serious health issues .

But if you move for 150 minutes a week , if you only eat well for 150 minutes a week , you're going to have some serious health issues . But if you move for 150 minutes per week , you will get conferred significant health benefit , of which .

I certainly don't have to explain all of that to those of you that are listening on the podcast , but I will remind all of you listening that the biggest health benefits are conferred from when you go from doing nothing or very little to something or just a little bit more , and that is a profound public health message .

That's out there and I think we need to sing that from the mountaintops because I think we all believe that physical activity and movement is the most potent medical intervention that exists , and the bottom line is we don't talk about it enough like that and we don't yell that from the mountaintops enough , and people need to hear that .

They need to hear it at the federal level from a policy perspective . They need to hear it at the state level from a policy perspective . The population writ large needs to hear that we need to be a more physically active culture . We need to be viewing physical activity as a front line medical intervention .

It might be the front of the front lines from a medical intervention perspective , and what the PAA does is they work to create the policy changes at the federal level , as well as working with some states in isolated fashion to really drive that change .

So , as an example , the Physical Activity has its Time to Move initiative and the it's Time to Move initiative has the goal of making physical activity assessment , prescription and referral the standard of care in medicine . Now , if that doesn't sound like solving the wellness paradox to you , I don't know what does .

And the Physical Activity Alliance is making big strides in this direction . At this point we have gotten it written into federal policy that physical activity will be a required vital sign inside of electronic health records starting in 2027 .

That is a significant step in the right direction because once physical inactivity is diagnosed in healthcare , then you could prescribe an intervention and make a referral to a qualified community-based resource to be able to address that physical inactivity .

And there's all kinds of other strides that the Physical Activity Alliance is making and moving in a very positive direction .

The challenge with the Physical Activity Alliance , much like the policy and systems work that happens in many sectors , is that it happens behind the scenes and away from the limelight of social media and , in all honesty , away from the consciousness of many of the people that it will impact and affect the most .

One of our goals this year as a podcast and one of my goals in my presidency role for PAA , is to illuminate the work that the Physical Activity Alliance is doing and that is going to be a massive emphasis of what we do on this podcast in 2025 .

Rooms from the conversations we're having about how we professionalize the exercise profession and how we make the active choice not just the easy choice but the essential choice in our country and I want to be able to bring them to you as our audience , to understand what is happening , how you can be involved and what it means for not only the future of our

profession but for the health of our nation , and I'm humbled and honored to be in the role as PAA president . Certainly , I don't take the position lightly , simply because we have a physical inactivity crisis in our country .

It is like the smoking crisis , it is like the obesity crisis , it is like the literacy crisis , but in my mind , it's even more fundamental because if you cannot move , you cannot be healthy , and if you do not have your health , nothing else , at the end of the day , really matters .

So what we're committing to in 2025 is keeping you as informed as we possibly can about the work of the Physical Activity Alliance , using this podcast as the megaphone to yell from the mountaintops the work that we're doing , and all I would ask you to do when you hear that information is two things Learn from it and be prepared for the implications of the work

that the Alliance is doing , and then share it . We need to create this movement of movement in our nation , and the Physical Activity Alliance , I truly believe , is the nucleus for that .

But we need all of you that are listening to amplify the message through your social media channels , through your networks , ensure that all of the professionals in our field , as well as policymakers and other key stakeholders , understand the work that we are doing .

It's only through the work of a broad alliance like the PAA that we can truly shift the culture in our society to one that views physical activity , movement and exercise as an essential part of health care and an essential part of people taking back control of their health . I will link up on the show notes page to the PAA's website .

I will link up on the show notes page to the PAA's website . I'll tell you right now , though , it's paamovewithusorg . Go to the website . Sign up for the newsletter to stay informed . In 2025 , we should be launching a new PAA website with a lot more tools and resources , but please stay informed of the work that the Alliance does .

Webinars tend to be done on a quarterly basis with PAA . There's policy work that's done in DC .

There's so much great stuff that's happening with the Alliance and I couldn't be more excited than to share it with you More on the work of the PAA in 2025 from my vantage point as the president of the organization , to just really elevate the voice of all the amazing board level , organization and staff members we have who are doing some of the most .

What I feel is the most impactful work in health care in this country is happening with the movement associated with movement . The Physical Activity Alliance is leading .

The last thing I want to talk to you about is something that I'm incredibly excited about , because it's a grassroots effort that sprouted here in Michigan that is really starting to turn into something that is much more macro level in the state , and that is the Michigan Moves Coalition .

Essentially , what we've done here in the state and that is the Michigan Moves Coalition Essentially what we've done here in the state of Michigan is we have brought together all of the physical activity stakeholder groups in the state to form the initial core of a coalition that is developing , implementing and evaluating the impact of a Michigan physical activity plan

with our Department of Health and Human Services .

This group was formed back in 2021 , where we came together for what we called Michigan Moves Month , and it was the Michigan Fitness Association , the MPARCS , which is the Parks and Rec Association , the Physical Educators Association , shape and the Physical Therapy Association , and we started as just a messaging campaign and now we've progressed into this amazing

collaborative partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services , where we are taking the National Physical Activity Plan , which is a critical asset of the Physical Activity Alliance , and we're pulling it down to the state level . And we are taking the societal sector framework that National Plan uses .

And if you're not familiar with that , essentially the National Plan breaks society down into 10 different sectors and you can learn about those sectors on the PAA website . But examples would be the healthcare sector , the public health sector , the sports sector sector , the sports sector and in each of those sectors there are specific strategies , tactics and objectives .

And here in the state of Michigan , by way of the Michigan Moves Coalition , we are populating 10 sector committees that will begin work in January 2025 of prioritizing the strategies , tactics and objectives of the National Physical Activity Plan to the state of Michigan , objectives of the National Physical Activity Plan to the state of Michigan .

At the end of 2025 , we will publish our Michigan Physical Activity Plan and then the coalition in and of itself will be not only responsible for convening all of the coalition stakeholders , it will also be responsible for making sure this plan is authored properly and it is evidence-based .

But , more importantly , we will be funding community level physical activity initiatives that are in alignment with the plan .

We'll help community-based organization build capacity to ensure implementation is effective and then , importantly , we will evaluate the impact of that plan with some robust metrics that we'll be using plan with some robust metrics that we'll be using like a state physical activity report card .

This has a tremendous , tremendous opportunity to be broadly impactful , not just in the state of Michigan but also around the country .

What we're hoping to do with this initiative here in Michigan is not only make Michigan a more physically active state In fact , we have the BHAG , the big , hairy , audacious goal of making Michigan the most physically active state in the nation but what we're also hoping to do with this is provide a template to other states so they could take the National Physical

Activity Plan , pull it down to their state level , prioritize based on the need of their state and their communities , and do the same work we're doing here in Michigan this of their state and their communities and do the same work we're doing here in Michigan .

This is expanding the movement of movement that the Physical Activity Alliance is spearheading to the state level .

Again , these are policy and systems change type of initiatives , but they will also then pull forward into community-based initiatives that are working with people to make the active choice , the easy choice , and again ensure that physical activity , movement and exercise are an essential part of the culture in every community and it's an essential part of health care

delivery throughout our country . I'd like nothing more that , as we move forward with this planning process and this opportunity to implement things at the community level , that physical activity continues to accelerate in terms of its role in disease prevention , disease management and healthcare more broadly . So there are so many exciting things happening .

I feel like we're finally at the point , as a physical activity profession , where we are all very much aligned and we're rowing the boat in the same direction . We understand the challenge that we have before us . I don't think we're Pollyannish about this . I think we know that it's hard to get people to move more .

Our society right now is a society that is sedentary and there are several countervailing forces that are working against us , but there's a lot of passionate people , from the people that did those podcasts in our themed issue series with the ACSM , to all the guests you've heard throughout the course of this year and the course of the past several years on this

podcast , to the people who are working with the Physical Activity Alliance and with the Michigan Moves Coalition , there are a lot of passionate people that will make the active choice not only the easy choice , but the essential choice for people in America .

And the goal of this next year is going to be to report out of the work that's happening , both on the professionalization front for exercise professionals , the work that's happening both on the professionalization front for exercise professionals , the work that the Physical Activity Alliance is doing and the work that the Michigan Moves Coalition is doing , all of this in

an effort to illuminate this work . So , one , all of you understand what's happening . Two , you're prepared for what's to come . And three , you could take these ideas , amplify them , iterate on them and think about how you can work to implement these ideas within your ecosystem and in your communities .

I've always looked at the wellness paradox as a little bit of a communication node between certain parts of our profession and our industry that do their work behind closed doors just by the nature of the work , and then the frontline exercise professionals that are out there every day working hard to make people healthier through movement , and I think 2025 will embody

that more than anything else . For the wellness paradox . I couldn't be any more excited for where we're at . I also think it couldn't be any more necessary than what it is right now . To say it again we are in a physical inactivity crisis .

The physical literacy of our population , at every age , at every stage , is deteriorating , and now is the time to get in front of that , and I believe we have all of the right vehicles there to do it .

We just need to make sure we stay unified and we stay informed and we keep working together as a physical activity and exercise community to make this a reality . Now , what does this mean for the podcast in 2025 ? Well , first thing it means is we're going to publish one episode per month consistently .

Now , I say one episode per month consistently because , as we've talked about , policy and systems change can move fast sometimes , it can move slow sometimes . So if something comes up that is exciting , it's unexpected , it has some degree of urgency that all of you need to know about , we will do a podcast episode and we will publish it immediately .

So be on the lookout for those podcast episodes that drop in an ad hoc fashion for breaking news on a lot of the physical activity policy and systems changes that are happening through the PAA , through the Michigan Moves Coalition and then the work that's happening through the professionalization effort .

We will , however , publish a consistent podcast on the last Wednesday of every month . It will drop in your podcast feeds , provided you're subscribed . If you haven't subscribed , please do so .

It's the best way to ensure you get that monthly episode on the last Wednesday of every month in 2025 , and then those breaking news episodes that are going to come out throughout the course of the year that are going to come out throughout the course of the year . Here's your take-home message .

I'd really ask you to go to the show notes page from this episode and look at three resources . One is the link to the ACSM podcast series . Please check that series out If you haven't listened . Now is the time . Holidays are a great time . Maybe you have some downtime from work , maybe you're traveling . Listen to that podcast series .

Go to the PAA's website , paamovewithusorg Again , we'll link that up on the show notes page and subscribe to the newsletter . Read the content on the website . Stay informed of the work of the Alliance . And then , lastly , you can go to mimoovesorg .

That's mimoovesorg to check out the work of the Michigan Moves Coalition , and there's going to be a lot of very substantive , exciting work happening there in 2025 as we develop and publish this plan . I'd encourage all of you to stay informed through all of these different vehicles that we're providing through the podcast .

I'd also encourage all of you to engage with me and these organizations whenever you have the opportunity . Collaboration is key to this collective effort . Any success that any movement has comes from collaboration of a wide variety of stakeholders .

It happens because of their collaboration , their conversation , their enthusiasm , their passion and their dedication , and I know of no more enthusiastic and passionate group than the physical activity and exercise professionals that listen to the wellness paradox . 2025 is a massive year for the physical activity and exercise profession .

The wellness paradox is going to be there every step of the way to provide you the information that you need to stay informed and to be a part of the movement of movement that's being created in our nation . Thank you so much for listening this past year . I'm excited for everything to come in 2025 .

Anything we want to share from this episode can be found on the show notes page . Want to share from this episode can be found on the show notes page . That's by going to wellnessparadoxpodcom forward slash episode 138 . That's wellnessparadoxpodcom forward slash episode 138 . Please have a healthy , fun , safe holiday season .

We will see you back in 2025 to keep you in the loop with all the amazing work that's happening in our field . Until we chat again next , please be well , thank you .